Archive for the ‘The hacks’ Category

Hiking burns anywhere from 350 to 500 calories an hour, depending on how much you weigh now, how fast you go, how nasty the terrain is, how active your lifestyle already is, and a zillion other factors. Whatever it is, it’s gobs more than sitting on your fanny reading a computer screen.

How much can you lose by hiking? You have to burn 3,500 more calories than you consume to lose a single pound, which you could accomplish with a single 7- to 10-hour hike if you ate nothing all day, but that’s no way to live, much less hike.Read the rest of this entry »

Take smaller steps. Those big long strides are hard on your knees and lower back (they compress your lower vertebre!). You may have to take a lot more steps with a smaller stride, but it will take a lot of pressure off of your knees and back.

Look to your local pharmacy for TINY zip lock bags. They are designed to hold daily med, but are also great for carrying small quantities of things – like spices or safety pins.

It’s always important to have clean dishes, yet sometimes water while backpacking is at a premium. I recently wrote a piece for Backpacker Magazine (April 2008) on keeping clean, etc. Funny thing is, they made some additions to my article. Interestingly, one of them was something I always do but hadn’t mentioned: lick (or use your clean fingers to wipe out) your bowl before you start washing the dishes–more food for you, less dishwashing required, less garbage to dispose off.

I have all my trail crews add a quarter cup of water to their personal dish and use their spork to brush the food scraps into the water. Then they get to drink it.

Limit ankle flex on steep trails to reduce the strain on the Achilles tendon and the chance for tendinitis. Use the larger leg muscles to do the work instead.

Do not dry leather boots by a hot fire or in the sun. The extreme heat leads to cracked leather and reduces the life of the boots. When out of the backcountry after a hike, use a balled-up newspaper to get the rest of the moisture out of the boots.

It used to be a pain to learn knot-tying if you didn’t have an Eagle Scout handy to walk you through all the twists. Books and pamphlets with diagrams were incomprehensible enough to convince you you’d just do something like tying your shoe in a pinch. These days the Web has tons of video knot instructions. I’m fond of a site called I Will Knot (less fond of the cheap puns but hey, it’s unavoidable). The vids are soundtrack free and straightforward.

A guy named Dan from someplace called Expert Village (great place to visit but you wouldn’t want to live there) has crafted a collection of knot videos for advanced loopers. Dan sports a long beard, ties loops to his legs (and his piano’s) to demonstrate, and has a slightly junky backdrop that fairly screams “real live hiker and camper.” He also pronounces “bowline” as “bow-len” like all good sailors.

While a a meter of prevention is worth a kilometer of cure, even the most careful hikers still get blisters.

Never forget that blisters are a medical condition that require first aid. They can get infected, and infection can put you in the hospital and (a Pacific Crest Trail through-hiker was nearly killed by septic shock resulting from infected blisters in June 2007 — an extreme case but it shows they are not to be trifled with).

The best thing to do about a blister is to stop making it worse and let the body’s healing powers take over. Few humans have the time or inclination to do this because blisters always happen in the middle of a hike with several miles of foot punishment between them and the trailhead.Read the rest of this entry »

Blisters seem inevitable: the farther you hike, the higher your odds. Once they get going, they don’t go away and they generally get worse. So, the best thing to do about a blister is make sure you never get one.

Blisters are the body’s natural defense against excess heat and friction. Tips on avoiding them:

Start by reducing friction:

Duct tape: If you know you’re hiking many, many miles, try putting some duct tape on your trouble spots. The smooth outer surface is a natural friction fighter, and the tape provides a foot-protecting barrier.

Bar of soap: Rub some bar soap like Ivory inside your boots just before you start. Don’t get carried away or your foot sweat will turn your shoes into lather factories.

A couple years ago when I was first going UL I spent the night shivering, wondering if I would survive the night. My problem was I had a 45-degree bag and it dipped below 32 that night! I was utterly miserable. Lesson learned.

I now always carry one of the disposable emergency blankets ($1-2 at Walmart or any outdoor store) in all of my packs, be day or overnight.

“Low-discharge” is the latest craze in rechargeable batteries: old-fashioned rechargeables would discharge over time without even using them. Low-discharge batteries — many of which come pre-charged in the package — hold a charge far longer: weeks, months, up to a year perhaps.

They do this at a price: rechargeables are rated by how much juice they store, rated in mAh: 2,900 is the highest number I’ve seen. Low-discharge batteries are rated at around 2,000 mAh, which means they store about a third less power, but they store that power a lot longer. If you use your digital camera every day and always keep a bunch of high-powered batteries charged, low-discharge probably won’t matter and you’ll be able to take a lot more pictures.

But if your camera, like mine, sits on the shelf all week and you take it out on weekends, you’ll get sick of “low battery” messages resulting from your batteries losing their charge.Read the rest of this entry »

For hikers, a compass is like car insurance: you never need one except when you do. Say you’re going uphill into a fog bank and suddenly you lose all visual references of your location. You’re flying blind now. Then the trail splits. Which way to turn?

Novices who’ve just tossed their shiny new compass in their pack think they’re covered till they break it out in the middle of said fog bank and realize they have no earthly idea which way to go, based on what that little floating magnetic arrow is telling them. So, it points north. Then what?Read the rest of this entry »

When you are sharing GORP/trailmix and other bags of food with others, everyone should pour out what they want, not reach in. Experts suggest that improper hygiene (not washing hands thoroughly after bathroom breaks, etc.) causes many backcountry illnesses such as E-coli and Giardia.